The link above is the first installment of a feature I have been working on, and which I announced a few weeks back.

The idea came about when I attended Gatherings of the Pack and met a number of European Groups which are relatively unknown in the U.S. I was impressed with the dedication and with the exuberance they showed. Furthermore, it seemed to be a pity that American and European Groups don't always know about one another.

And so I decided to write about some of these lesser-known groups - beginning with DBMA Slovenia.

Eventually, I would like to also feature groups in the U.S. and elsewhere. I would also from time to time feature individuals who are part of the tribe, and either are not-well known, or exceptionally energetic. Hopefully also a feature on the female fighters, sometime down the road.

I have incorporated the "Google Translate" bar which displays on top only if your browser is NOT an English one. This way, people in say Slovenia can translate the article with a single click. For training groups without a web site of their own, this gives them a bit of publicity, something which may help to attract new members.

In any case, I hope you all enjoy it - thanks to Group Leader Andrew Bole for his help.

I have finished the page on the Dog Brothers Training Group in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The text is in both English and Spanish, and was written by group leader Nicolás Wachsmann. Photos are also courtesy of Nicolás. The link for this (the English-language version), is here, and the Spanish-language version is here

Nicolás deserves much credit for guiding a DBMA training group for over six years, in a part of the world far removed from other such groups.

As most of you know, around here the title "Guro" is considered rather a big deal.

As a matter of fact, until today I have made only five.

I now announce two new DBMA Guros:

Guro BeowulfGuro Fu Dog

Beo and Fu are training partners and have a school in Moreno Valley. Despite Moreno Valley being a ninety minute drive each way, for over three years now they have consistently driven the three hours necessary to train with me for 90-120 minutes. They bring me out to their school every four months or so, so I get to see the students they are developing, and they had two students fight at the most recent Gathering. Concerning their own fighting, well they are Dog Brothers, with each one bringing considerable spirit and technical expression to their fighting. Their knowledge of the DBMA curriculum is sound and well-rounded in all three areas.

In short, I think they are "there" and so today we had a little ceremony marking the promotion.

Here are some clips with the last sparring sessions of our DBMA group in Buenos aires, Argentina. The main focus was try to apply some of the "Dos Triques" and some "Time machine" tactics. Two clips are with double sticks and the other is stick and tonfa.

This article was completed over a year ago, but I only now realized that I had mentioned it here, and not followed up with a link. I apologize to all. Thanks to Mike "DogZilla" Tibbitts for writing the article, and providing the photos. The article itself is here .

We have had several new people join in the last six months, so it was decided that now that they have some stick-fighting experience, we would hold a "sparring day", in which things proceeded pretty much as if we were at a Dog Brothers Gathering. It went very well, with some tough fights. Also some former members who we had not seen in a month or two, decided to join in for the fun. There was a good age distribution - three people in their twenties, three in their thirties, three in their forties, and one in his fifties. All had martial arts experience, and five people had 18+ years experience (in martial arts). Three people who took part, have fought at (European) Dog Brothers Gatherings, and two of those are members of the Dog Brothers tribe.

Fights were mostly single stick, with some double stick. We look forward to doing it again, in a few months time - hopefully outdoors, where we will have plenty of room, for longer-range weapons.